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Thursday, February 15, 2018

Nightmare In America

I watched my
first horror movie when I was in fourth grade. I was at a sleep over at my
friend’s house and her parents made me call my parents for permission first. I
remember my mom saying it was okay, but to remember it was just a movie and if
it felt too scary just to turn it off. As I watched the plot unfold, I remember
thinking, why do these people keep going back into the house, into a shed, or
up a flight of stairs when it has repeatedly not worked for anyone else up to
this point? The dark woods alone? No. DO NOT be an idiot.

I made it
through the movie, albeit not without a couple of nightmares that week, but I
was able to forget about it and sleep. I was able to sleep after telling myself
over and over again that horror movies are not real. After all no one keeps
doing the same dumb stuff over and over again, knowing that it will surely end
the same way it did for all of their not so lucky horror movie friends that
came before them. In real life when danger lurks we seek real safety. We go to
the authorities. We head into a crowd and scream help. We don’t run into the
dark woods alone even though we hear a chainsaw in the distance. Because that
would be stupid. Obviously.

I don’t
watch horror movies anymore. I’m more of a romantic comedy fan. There is quite
enough horror movie material in this world without having to seek it out on the
screen. Once I became a mom everything became a little scarier. I started to
see the world in an entirely different light once my boys were born. That whole
mama bear instinct people talk about is true. I would do anything to protect
them. I would do anything to ensure their happiness and safety. Which has me
begging the question, what if I can’t though? What if I can’t protect them? What
if?

You see we
are living in a real life horror movie here in America, and anyone who doesn’t
think this is a problem isn’t paying attention. Seventeen lives were lost in
Parkland Florida yesterday. Seventeen lives at a high school, another school
shooting. We all bow our heads as the news flashes across the screen. We
whisper, not again. We shout profanities.
We feel angry. We feel heartbroken. We feel confused. We watch intently as all
the information unfolds as if there is going to be some new revelation. It’s
like that horror movie. It’s the same plot. It’s the same scenario. We know how
it’s going to end, but we don’t seem willing to rewrite the script.

No one seems
willing to talk about the hard stuff, and trust me we need to talk about it. We
need to stop sending our thoughts and prayers as if they are magic. They are
clearly not working. It is not enough. I keep seeing the same question all over
social media, when will it be enough? Every time I read that question I feel
hopeless because it reminds me that the lives of twenty children between the
ages of six and seven didn’t change anything. It reminds me that all we seem
capable of in this country is fighting for “our side.” I have learned that gun
owners really love their guns and while not all, most get completely defensive
when the words gun reform are even uttered. Why? Why can’t there be a middle
ground? Why can’t we have real discussions without everyone getting so angry
with each other? We owe it to the families who are grieving. We owe it to our
children because without them there is no future for our country.

I don’t
claim to have the answers, but I am willing to have the hard discussions. I am
willing to fight for what I believe is a start. I am willing to roll the rug
up, watch the dust clear, and talk about what we have been continuously pushing
underneath that rug for far too long. Yes we need to talk about gun reform and
yes we need to talk about the mental health of our nation. No I am not saying
that all guns need to be taken away from law abiding citizens, and no I am certainly
not saying that all of those suffering from mental health issues are murderers.
This is not about lumping everyone into one category. This is about coming
together to rewrite the plot of this horror movie. This is about putting our
own strong beliefs to the side long enough to hear one another. No solutions
have ever come from a shouting match. It’s going to take listening, on both
sides to really make a difference.

I am a
mother and despite all the things I do on a daily basis, it is how I define
myself. I know this because my two boys are the last thing I think about before
I go to bed, and the first thing I think about when I wake up. I know this
because the day I held them in my arms my priorities all changed. It is because
of this that I cannot sit silently by as our country allows this epidemic to
continue. We are the land of the free and the home of the brave, but right now
it doesn’t feel that way. We aren’t free to feel safe in our own country, and
up until now we haven’t been brave enough to do a single thing to change it.

As I write
this I’m watching my boys sit at the dining room table. They are coloring. They
are bickering and giggling together. I feel sad. I feel blessed. I feel scared,
and I know many of you share in these emotions. I cannot even begin to wrap my
head around the thought of sending them off to school and not having them
return, but that is our reality in this country. We cannot think that it is
impossible for it to happen to us because it has been proven time and time
again that it is in fact possible. We need to rewrite this script. It’s time to
stop running into the dark woods alone. It never ends well. We need to come
together. We need to sit in the light and figure out a way to make this horror
movie stop playing. We can rewrite the ending. We just have to be willing to
change the script.

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About Me

Outsmarted Mommy

Before having children Jennifer thought being a stay
at home mom would be a walk in the park. Now that she's doing it she realizes
it's more like a run in a zoo (without cages for the animals). She traded in
her salary for sloppy kisses, corporate lunches for peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches, and sales meetings for finger painting sessions. Her two boys
outsmart her on a daily basis although in her defense it could be the lack of
sleep. She writes to stay sane on her blog Outsmarted Mommy and has been featured
on The Huffington Post, Today Parents, Mamapedia, Scary Mommy and iVillage Australia. She is also a contributor for
Felicity Huffman’s What The Flicka? Her children are not the least bit impressed
they just want to know what's for dinner. You
can follow their journey at Outsmarted
Mommy, on Twitter as @outsmartedmommy or on Facebook.